Katie Gadsby - Vice Chair

I am honored and excited to be a member of the board of Collective Roots.  I previously worked as the Garden and Nutrition Education Coordinator at Collective Roots in 2009 but left to have my first baby, and I am very happy to be a part of the Collective Roots community again.  I have an M.S in Nutrition and Public Health from Teachers College, Columbia University, am a registered dietitian and also completed the culinary training program from the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City.  It is obvious that I love food and nutrition and through my education I have become a strong advocate for relocalizing our current food system and creating access to healthy, nutritious food for all communities.  My graduate program also had a strong focus on community nutrition education and I became very passionate about garden based learning as a way to reconnect children to their food source, to create a healthy relationship with food at an early age, and for children to love eating fresh fruits and vegetables.  I have seen first hand that children will eat what they grow and having long term exposure to garden based learning programs can result in healthier eating habits.   Working for Collective Roots allowed me to put into action my passion for nutrition and the food system in East Palo Alto. Collective Roots is doing amazing work with improving access to healthy food in this community, empowering families to grow their own food and providing garden based nutrition and science education.   There are many ways that you can support the work of Collective Roots. We welcome your involvement as a volunteer. Please review the many volunteer opportunities by clicking here.